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Nancy Stohs | First Course

Dairy Month means fun events in Wisconsin

In the course of my childhood, my home state of Nebraska went from being the Beef State to becoming the Cornhusker State (this after first being the Tree Planters State).

Beef. Corn. Two fine foods that are still produced there in abundance.

There has been no such ambiguity in my adopted home state. Since 1940, Wisconsin license plates have proudly proclaimed us to be "America's Dairyland."

To be honest, it was easy — a piece of cheesecake, you might say — to embrace this other home-state food group...and it's been a whole lot of fun to witness such a high level of devotion.

Where else would eager crowds line up every year for 11 days straight to buy small dixie cups of cherry vanilla- or root beer-flavored milk? Or would you find folks debating the merits of a cheese curd's squeak? Or could you sign up to ride a "cheese train?"

In honor of June Dairy Month, a celebration started back in 1937 as National Milk Month, here's a list of special events and other new developments that all began, somehow, with a farmer and a cow.

All aboard

On June 29, you can ride the rails with cheesemakers when the The Elegant Farmer hosts the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Train. Part of the Mukwonago store's Blue Ribbon CheeseFest, the two-hour train ride on the vintage East Troy Electric Railroad's Dinner Car (yes, it's air-conditioned!) starts at 2 p.m. and ends at 4.

A ticket price of $39 gets you samplings of award-winning cheeses, wine and brews and The Elegant Farmer's apple pie baked in a paper bag, as well as a special talk from three cheesemakers: Chris Roelli of Roelli Cheese in Shullsburg, specializing in small-batch artisan cheeses such as Dunbarton Blue; Ron Henningfeld of Milwaukee's Clock Shadow Creamery, whose fresh cheeses include quark, ricotta and curds; and Cesar Luis of Cesar's Cheese in Random Lake, who makes Oaxacan string cheese, Manchego-style cheese and mozzarella.

For tickets and more info, visit www.elegantfarmer.com or call (262) 363-6770.

Dairy-happy dads

Sure, you could throw some steaks on the grill...or you could treat Dad on Father's Day to a dairy breakfast at Old World Wisconsin.

The outdoor museum in Eagle will hold seatings from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for the buffet, which will be held in the Clausing Barn. The menu features a long list of items including "Farmer's Scrambler," beer-braised chicken, brats, sausage links and bacon, pan-fried potatoes, a selection of cheeses, sour cream coffeecake and more.

Dads get free admission to the museum on June 16, and the day coincides with the weekend-long event, Celebrate Wisconsin Folklife, featuring food, crafts and music of the German culture.

For tickets for the buffet ($20 adults, $10 children 5 to 12, free for younger kids), visit www.oldworldwisconsin.org or call (262) 594-6301 or email oww@wisconsinhistory.org. Reservations are required.

Curds and whey more

Will the squeakiest curd get the prize?

You can find out after Saturday morning, July 27, when nearly 30 curds from across the country will be judged for the first time as part of the American Cheese Society conference and competition, held at Monona Terrace in Madison.

Logistics have kept curds out of the contest the first 30 years. Cheeses for the competition are overnighted and then sorted and stored for a couple of days before judging, explained Nora Weiser, the cheese society's executive director; but curds need to be judged right away. So a special judging is being held the morning after the curds arrive.

Is the word "squeak" included in the judging criteria? Weiser didn't know, but both judges are from Wisconsin.

Two events at the conference are open to the public: an evening Festival of Cheese on Saturday, Aug. 3, with more than 1,700 cheeses plus other specialty foods for sampling; and a fund-raiser public cheese sale the next day.

The society is also looking for volunteers to help out all week in exchange for a T-shirt and ticket to the cheese festival. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.cheesesociety.org.

For cheese hobbyists

And finally, for all of you DIY cheesemakers and wannabes, a new store opened last weekend in Madison. Get Culture, located in the Dairy Connection facility at 501 Tasman St., sells cheesemaking supplies, cheese cultures, molds, rennet, fermented milk supplies and more. The online retail business, www.getculture.com, launched late last year.

For more information about June Dairy Month, visit dairydaysofsummer.com, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's website, which includes recipes and an interactive calendar of events, activities and promotions. Events are sortable by region or type of event.

Nancy J. Stohs is food editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. E-mail her at nstohs@journalsentinel.com. www.jsonline.com/food/facebook.